SC decision on Cebu exams paves way for Bar regionalization

MANILA, Philippines — The regionalization of the Bar exams for 2021 is a dream come true for former University of Cebu-College of Law dean Baldomero Estenzo, who has pushed for it for more than a decade.

“I am happy not for myself but I am happy for those who would benefit from it,” Estenzo said in reaction to news that the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta and 2020 Bar chairman Associate Justice Marvic Leonen agreed to hold two separate venues for the 2021 Bar Exam – one in Manila and the other in Cebu. The University of Santo Tomas (UST) in Manila has been the venue for Bar exams since 2011.

Since 2007, Estenzo said he had been passionately campaigning for the regionalization of the Bar exams to help students who could not immediately take the Bar exams after graduation primarily because of the high cost of review, food, lodging and transportation.

He explained that about 95 percent of UC College of Law students are working to support their studies. In order for them to travel to Manila to prepare and take the Bar exam they would have to spend around P200,000 to P300,000, he said.

“This is a double whammy because when they travel to Manila, they would have to leave their jobs in Cebu, and they need the money to finance their Bar exams preparations. Some of them are married and have children, so they carry with them not just the financial baggage but also the emotional and psychological baggage,” Estenzo said.

“Their support systems, such as their family, are not with them during the time they are preparing for the most important examination that they are going to take… So they might not be in their best physical and mental condition when preparing for the exam,” he pointed out.

He first raised the idea of regionalizing the Bar exams before to the Philippine Association of Law Schools (PALS), which brought the matter to the SC.

In 2012, Estenzo and UC Law students filed a petition with the SC for the decentralization of the Bar exams.

Among the documents they submitted to the High Court were resolutions from the then Cebu City Council and from the Cebu Provincial Board, expressing their support for regionalized Bar exams.

They did not initially get SC’s approval. “I did not stop my advocacy because there were a lot of law graduates who have not taken the Bar because they could not afford it. I would really want to help the less fortunate law students,” he said.

Many law deans in the provinces are in favor of regionalizing the Bar exams.

Philippine Association of Law Schools president and Universidad de Manila (UDM) College of Law dean Marisol Anenias said it was good that the SC, especially Peralta and Leonen, was very receptive to the idea of having regionalized Bar exams. She said they have been discussing the matter with Leonen since October and November last year.

While there may be initiatives to expand such concept to Mindanao, Anenias said it would be prudent to concentrate on Manila and Cebu for the time being. “This is groundbreaking. If this becomes successful in Cebu they would be able to prove that the concept was correct. Therefore, it might be possible to bring it to other areas later on,” Anenias added.

She assured the SC that the PALS, comprising 125 member-schools, would give its full support for the success of next year’s Bar exams.

“The regionalization makes the Bar exams more accessible and equitable to the Bar taker… It will give economical option, maybe it would be less expensive (for the Bar examinees) to go to Cebu,” she said.

“It would also allow Bar takers to have their support system with them such as their family and classmates. It is very good to have them around because it eases the pressure of going through a very mentally demanding (examination),” she added.

Anenias is also aware that hosting a Bar exam would be one big “production number” because of the tediousness of the process, enormity of the resources and manpower required to make it happen.

While the SC, through the Office of the Bar Confidant (OBC), would supervise preparations and the conduct of the exams, local government units, the Philippine National Police (PNP) and other concerned agencies should pitch in to ensure peaceful and orderly Bar exams, she said.

There should also be measures to prevent leakage of exam questions so protect the integrity of results.

Estenzo had suggested that in this digital age, the SC may just email the test questions at 4 a.m. on the day of the exam,  or just enough time to reprint the questions for the examinees.

To support the reform, Anenias said the SC may tap employees of the Court of Appeals (CA) in Cebu and the courts for help.

“I am excited because I want it to be successful. But we have a long journey in this regionalization. So many things can happen and we hope that we would be able to rise to the challenge and we would be able to overcome whatever it would be, for this to be successful,” she said.

“So, we just hope everybody will just jump in and do their part and we deans we will give our support.”